Calvert of Strathore eBook

When the King had ascended the throne and seated himself
(the princes of the blood royal who followed His Majesty
being ranged upon the steps of the dais to his right
and his ministers below and in front), there was another
call from the heralds-at-arms, and Marie Antoinette,
beautiful, pallid, and haughty-looking, appeared at
the entrance, accompanied by the Princess Royal and
the members of her immediate household. Amid a
silence unbroken by a single acclamation the Queen
took her seat on the King’s left and two steps
below him.

“Is there no Frenchman here who will raise his
voice in greeting to his Queen?” said Mr. Morris,
very audibly. But though many hear him, not a
sound is made, and at the cruel silence the Queen,
her haughtiness giving way for a moment, as it had
the day before, wept.

“I could never bear to see beauty in distress.
If I were a subject of the Queen she should have one
loyal servitor, at least, to wish her well,”
said Mr. Morris, warmly, to Calvert.

The scene which, before the entrance of the royal
party, had lacked its crowning touch, was now brilliant
beyond description. To the right of the throne
were ranged the princes of the Church, hardly less
resplendent in their robes than the secular nobles
facing them, while between, forming a perfect foil
for this glowing mass of color and jewels, a sombre
spot in the brilliant assemblage, the tiers sat facing
their sovereign. It was ominous—­or
so it seemed to Mr. Calvert—­that the tiers
should thus divide the two orders naturally most closely
allied, and should sit as if in opposition or menace
over against their King. And it was to them that
the King seemed to speak or rather to read his address,
which had been carefully prepared for him and was
intentionally so vague that it aroused but little enthusiasm;
to them that Monsieur le Garde des Sceaux appealed
without great effect; and it was, above all, to the
tiers that Monsieur Necker, rising, addressed himself,
receiving in turn their warmest plaudits.

So long and so frequently interrupted by applause
was Necker’s report that it was after four o’clock
when the King rose to dismiss the Assembly. As
he descended the steps the Queen came forward to his
side, and, for the first time, a faint “Vive
la Reine!” was heard. At the sound a quick
blush of pleasure showed in her pallid cheeks and she
courtesied low to the throng with such divine grace
that the acclamations redoubled. To this the
Queen courtesied yet lower, and, amid a very thunder
of applause, the royal party left the hall, followed
by the deputies and the struggling throng of visitors.

Fatigued by the long seance, the excitement, and the
tediousness of Monsieur Necker’s report, Mr.
Jefferson hurried Mr. Calvert—­Mr. Morris
had been carried off by Madame de Flahaut, to the great
discomfiture of Monsieur de Curt—­into his
coach and drove directly to Madame de Tesse’s,
where they found apartments ready for them for the
night and where they could get some repose before
dressing for dinner and the King’s levee, at
which Mr. Jefferson intended to present both Mr. Morris
and Mr. Calvert to their Majesties.